S.B. 334
- *SB334*
SENATE BILL NO. 334–SENATOR NEAL
MARCH 11, 2025
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Referred to Committee on Judiciary
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to the employment of
offenders. (BDR 16-1115)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State: Yes.
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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to correctional institutions; revising provisions
relating to the wages paid to offenders; requiring the
Legislative Auditor to conduct an audit concerning the
wages paid to offenders; and providing other matters
properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law requires an employer to pay an employee a wage of not less than a 1
certain minimum wage. (Nev. Const. Art. 15, § 16; NRS 608.250) However, 2
existing law does not require offenders to be paid the federal or state minimum 3
wage for their employment in a program for the employment of offenders. (NRS 4
209.461) Section 1 of this bill requires offenders to be paid a progressively 5
increasing percentage of the state minimum wage over a 5-year period, such that, 6
beginning on July 1, 2029, offenders are paid at least the state minimum wage. 7
Existing law requires the State Forester Firewarden to: (1) establish and carry 8
out a program for operating conservation camps in this State, which may use 9
offenders to perform certain tasks; and (2) determine the amount of wages that must 10
be paid to offenders who participate in such camps. (NRS 209.231, 209.457, 11
472.040) Section 2 of this bill provides that these wages must be equivalent to or 12
exceed the wages set forth in section 1. 13
Section 3 of this bill requires the Legislative Auditor to conduct an audit of the 14
wages paid to offenders each fiscal year during the period beginning on July 1, 15
2025, and ending on June 30, 2029, to determine compliance with section 1. 16
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 209.461 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
209.461 1. The Director shall: 2
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(a) To the greatest extent possible, approximate the normal 1
conditions of training and employment in the community. 2
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, to the extent 3
practicable, require each offender, except those whose behavior is 4
found by the Director to preclude participation, to spend 40 hours 5
each week in vocational training or employment, unless excused for 6
a medical reason or to attend educational classes in accordance with 7
NRS 209.396. The Director shall require as a condition of 8
employment that an offender sign an authorization for the 9
deductions from his or her wages made pursuant to NRS 209.463. 10
Authorization to make the deductions pursuant to NRS 209.463 is 11
implied from the employment of an offender and a signed 12
authorization from the offender is not required for the Director to 13
make the deductions pursuant to NRS 209.463. 14
(c) Use the earnings from services and manufacturing conducted 15
by the institutions and the money paid by private employers who 16
employ the offenders to offset the costs of operating the prison 17
system and to provide wages for the offenders being trained or 18
employed. 19
(d) Provide equipment, space and management for services and 20
manufacturing by offenders. 21
(e) Employ craftsmen and other personnel to supervise and 22
instruct offenders. 23
(f) Contract with governmental agencies and private employers 24
for the employment of offenders, including their employment on 25
public works projects under contracts with the State and with local 26
governments. 27
(g) Contract for the use of offenders’ services and for the sale of 28
goods manufactured by offenders. 29
(h) On or before January 1, 2014, and every 5 years thereafter, 30
submit a report to the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for 31
distribution to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on the 32
Judiciary. The report must include, without limitation, an analysis of 33
existing contracts with private employers for the employment of 34
offenders and the potential impact of those contracts on private 35
industry in this State. 36
(i) Submit a report to each meeting of the Interim Finance 37
Committee identifying any accounts receivable related to a program 38
for the employment of offenders. 39
2. Every program for the employment of offenders established 40
by the Director must: 41
(a) Employ the maximum number of offenders possible; 42
(b) Except as otherwise provided in NRS 209.192, provide for 43
the use of money produced by the program to reduce the cost of 44
maintaining the offenders in the institutions; 45
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(c) Have an insignificant effect on the number of jobs available 1
to the residents of this State; [and] 2
(d) Provide occupational training for offenders [.] ; and 3
(e) Ensure offenders are paid: 4
(1) Beginning July 1, 2025, at least 20 percent of the state 5
minimum wage. 6
(2) Beginning July 1, 2026, at least 40 percent of the state 7
minimum wage. 8
(3) Beginning July 1, 2027, at least 60 percent of the state 9
minimum wage. 10
(4) Beginning July 1, 2028, at least 80 percent of the state 11
minimum wage. 12
(5) Beginning July 1, 2029, at least 100 percent of the state 13
minimum wage. 14
3. An offender may not engage in vocational training, 15
employment or a business that requires or permits the offender to: 16
(a) Telemarket or conduct opinion polls by telephone; or 17
(b) Acquire, review, use or have control over or access to 18
personal information concerning any person who is not incarcerated. 19
4. Each fiscal year, the cumulative profits and losses, if any, of 20
the programs for the employment of offenders established by the 21
Director must result in a profit for the Department. The following 22
must not be included in determining whether there is a profit for the 23
Department: 24
(a) Fees credited to the Fund for Prison Industries pursuant to 25
NRS 482.268, any revenue collected by the Department for the 26
leasing of space, facilities or equipment within the institutions or 27
facilities of the Department, and any interest or income earned on 28
the money in the Fund for Prison Industries. 29
(b) The selling expenses of the Central Administrative Office of 30
the programs for the employment of offenders. As used in this 31
paragraph, “selling expenses” means delivery expenses, salaries of 32
sales personnel and related payroll taxes and costs, the costs of 33
advertising and the costs of display models. 34
(c) The general and administrative expenses of the Central 35
Administrative Office of the programs for the employment of 36
offenders. As used in this paragraph, “general and administrative 37
expenses” means the salary of the Deputy Director of Industrial 38
Programs and the salaries of any other personnel of the Central 39
Administrative Office and related payroll taxes and costs, the costs 40
of telephone usage, and the costs of office supplies used and postage 41
used. 42
5. If any state-sponsored program incurs a net loss for 2 43
consecutive fiscal years, the Director shall appear before the Joint 44
Interim Standing Committee on the Judiciary to explain the reasons 45
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for the net loss and provide a plan for the generation of a profit in 1
the next fiscal year. If the program does not generate a profit in the 2
third fiscal year, the Director shall take appropriate steps to resolve 3
the issue. 4
6. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, the Director 5
may, with the approval of the Board: 6
(a) Lease spaces and facilities within any institution of the 7
Department to private employers to be used for the vocational 8
training and employment of offenders. 9
(b) Grant to reliable offenders the privilege of leaving 10
institutions or facilities of the Department at certain times for the 11
purpose of vocational training or employment. 12
7. Before entering into any contract with a private employer for 13
the employment of offenders pursuant to subsection 1, the Director 14
shall obtain from the private employer: 15
(a) A personal guarantee to secure an amount fixed by the 16
Director of: 17
(1) For a contract that does not relate to construction, not less 18
than 25 percent of the prorated annual amount of the contract but 19
not more than 100 percent of the prorated annual amount of the 20
contract, a surety bond made payable to the State of Nevada in an 21
amount fixed by the Director of not less than 25 percent of the 22
prorated annual amount of the contract but not more than 100 23
percent of the prorated annual amount of the contract and 24
conditioned upon the faithful performance of the contract in 25
accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract; or 26
(2) For a contract that relates to construction, not less than 27
100 percent of the prorated annual amount of the contract, a surety 28
bond made payable to the State of Nevada in an amount fixed by the 29
Director of not less than 100 percent of the prorated annual amount 30
of the contract and conditioned upon the faithful performance of the 31
contract in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract, 32
or a security agreement to secure any debt, obligation or other 33
liability of the private employer under the contract, including, 34
without limitation, lease payments, wages earned by offenders and 35
compensation earned by personnel of the Department. The Director 36
shall appear before the Joint Interim Standing Committee on the 37
Judiciary to explain the reasons for the amount fixed by the Director 38
for any personal guarantee or surety bond. 39
(b) A detailed written analysis on the estimated impact of the 40
contract on private industry in this State. The written analysis must 41
include, without limitation: 42
(1) The number of private companies in this State currently 43
providing the types of products and services offered in the proposed 44
contract. 45
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(2) The number of residents of this State currently employed 1
by such private companies. 2
(3) The number of offenders that would be employed under 3
the contract. 4
(4) The skills that the offenders would acquire under the 5
contract. 6
8. [The provisions of this chapter do not create a right on 7
behalf of the offender to employment or to receive the federal or 8
state minimum wage for any employment and do not establish a 9
basis for any cause of action against the State or its officers or 10
employees for employment of an offender or for payment of the 11
federal or state minimum wage to an offender. 12
9.] As used in this section, “state-sponsored program” means a 13
program for the vocational training or employment of offenders 14
which does not include a contract of employment with a private 15
employer. 16
Sec. 2. NRS 472.040 is hereby amended to read as follows: 17
472.040 1. The State Forester Firewarden shall: 18
(a) Supervise or coordinate all forestry, rangeland and watershed 19
work on state-owned and privately owned lands, including fire 20
control, in Nevada, working with federal agencies, private 21
associations, counties, towns, cities or private persons. 22
(b) Administer all fire control laws and all forestry laws in 23
Nevada outside of townsite boundaries, and perform any other 24
duties designated by the Director of the State Department of 25
Conservation and Natural Resources or by state law. 26
(c) Assist and encourage county or local fire protection districts 27
to create legally constituted fire protection districts where they are 28
needed and offer guidance and advice in their operation. 29
(d) Purchase communication equipment which can use the 30
microwave channels of the state communications system and store 31
this equipment in regional locations for use in emergencies. 32
(e) Administer money appropriated and grants awarded for fire 33
prevention, fire control and the education of firefighters and award 34
grants of money for those purposes to fire departments and 35
educational institutions in this State. 36
(f) Determine the amount of wages that must be paid to 37
offenders who participate in conservation camps and who perform 38
work relating to fire fighting and other work projects of 39
conservation camps. Any such wage must be equivalent to or 40
exceed the wages specified in paragraph (e) of subsection 2 of 41
NRS 209.461. 42
(g) Cooperate with the State Fire Marshal in the enforcement of 43
all laws and the adoption of regulations relating to the prevention of 44
fire through the management of vegetation in this State. 45
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(h) Ensure that any adopted regulations are consistent with those 1
of fire protection districts created pursuant to chapter 318 or 474 of 2
NRS. 3
(i) Upon the request of the State Engineer, review a plan 4
submitted with an application for the issuance of a temporary permit 5
pursuant to NRS 533.436. 6
(j) Work collaboratively with and provide technical assistance to 7
federal, state and local agencies and property owners to: 8
(1) Identify and mitigate the risks of wildfire to life, property 9
and ecosystems; 10
(2) Restore and maintain landscape resiliency; 11
(3) Create and maintain fire-adapted communities and 12
ignition-resistant communities; and 13
(4) Improve and support safe and effective responses to 14
wildfire. 15
2. The State Forester Firewarden in carrying out the provisions 16
of this chapter may: 17
(a) Appoint paid foresters and firewardens to enforce the 18
provisions of the laws of this State respecting forest, rangeland and 19
watershed management or the protection of lands from fire, subject 20
to the approval of the board of county commissioners of each county 21
concerned. 22
(b) Appoint suitable citizen-wardens. Citizen-wardens serve 23
voluntarily except that they may receive compensation when an 24
emergency is declared by the State Forester Firewarden. 25
(c) Appoint, upon the recommendation of the appropriate federal 26
officials, resident officers of the United States Forest Service and 27
the United States Bureau of Land Management as voluntary 28
firewardens. Voluntary firewardens are not entitled to compensation 29
for their services. 30
(d) Appoint certain paid foresters or firewardens to be arson 31
investigators. 32
(e) Employ, with the consent of the Director of the State 33
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, clerical 34
assistance, county and district coordinators, patrol officers, 35
firefighters, and other employees as needed, and expend such sums 36
as may be necessarily incurred for this purpose. 37
(f) Purchase, or acquire by donation, supplies, material, 38
equipment and improvements necessary for fire protection, fire 39
prevention and forest, rangeland and watershed management, 40
including, without limitation, cameras or other equipment necessary 41
for the early warning or detection of wildfires. 42
(g) With the approval of the Director of the State Department of 43
Conservation and Natural Resources and the State Board of 44
Examiners, purchase or accept the donation of real property to be 45
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used for lookout sites and for other administrative, experimental or 1
demonstration purposes. No real property may be purchased or 2
accepted unless an examination of the title shows the property to be 3
free from encumbrances, with title vested in the grantor. The title to 4
the real property must be examined and approved by the Attorney 5
General. 6
(h) Expend any money appropriated by the State to the Division 7
of Forestry of the State Department of Conservation and Natural 8
Resources for paying expenses incurred in fighting fires or in 9
emergencies which threaten human life. 10
3. The State Forester Firewarden, in carrying out the powers 11
and duties granted in this section, is subject to administrative 12
supervision by the Director of the State Department of Conservation 13
and Natural Resources. 14
Sec. 3. Each fiscal year during the period beginning on July 1, 15
2025, and ending on June 30, 2029, the Legislative Auditor shall 16
conduct an audit of the wages paid to offenders to determine 17
compliance with paragraph (e) of subsection 2 of NRS 209.461, as 18
amended by section 1 of this act. 19
Sec. 4. This act becomes effective upon passage and approval. 20
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